Double Standard: Social Policy in Europe and the United States Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a timely book that compares social policy in European nations with that in the United States. It offers a concise comparison of a number of specific programs, such as health care, education, family support, and income security, showing how citizens of European nations enjoy social support and benefits far beyond those available to many Americans. Double Standard also discusses contrasting historic and philosophical backgrounds to examine why there is a broad consensus across Europe that government has a responsibility to provide extensive economic and social support for all citizens while in the United States the role of government is challenged and curtailed. Double Standard suggests that European social policies provide a higher standard of living than that now maintained by many in the United States. It presents sharp contrasts between Europe and the United States in such indicators of social well being as rates of poverty and incarceration, educational levels, and income distribution.
The author in the end argues that European social policies are based upon a national sense of inclusion and the common good, that they promote such democratic principles as egalitarianism and active participation in civic life, and that they provide a model that the United States would do well to follow. Double Standard provides important information and arguments that should enter into our continuing debate over the role of government and appropriate levels of services that it should provide in the United States

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In the second edition of Double Standard, James W. Russell shows how and why different models of social and welfare policy developed in the United States and Europe. He comparatively examines how Europe and the United States have handled common social problems such as poverty, inequality, unemployment, family support, health care provision, ethnic and racial conflict, and crime. These different social policy orientations have produced disparate social ways of life, ways of life that are now in contention for the future of western societies.Today Europeans see their strong welfare states as necessary to counter the worst features of unrestrained capitalism. They pay high taxes to support generous social benefits. Americans, to the contrary, have been conditioned to shudder at the idea of a welfare state, upholding instead a laissez-faire faith in market solutions to social problems. They pay low taxes and have few tax-subsidized benefits.This new edition includes the latest available statistical information as well as an analysis of the 2010 health care reform in the United States. The book also compares the social consequences of the latest recession in Europe and the United States.

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Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, Fourth Edition (Principles & Practice of Sex Therapy) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a Ph.D. student in a marriage and family therapy program. This book was assigned by the professor of my sex therapy class. It is clinical and in some aspects 'over my head' with medical information. But it is well written and provides excellent information on various sexual related disorders and dysfunctions. The information will serve me well in my future work with clients.

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CPRT Package: Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT): A 10-Session Filial Therapy Model Review

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(More customer reviews)Dr. Landreth and Ms. Bratton have compiled decades of research, experience and practice into an outstanding book that enables any therapist (willing to devote the time necessary to learn and practice these practical skills) to teach parents to do play therapy with their own children. CPRT can help parents to step back and relax and enjoy their children, all the while encouraging their children towards positive self-esteem, decision-making, self control, boundaries, and so much more; not to mention a closer relationship between parent and child. Thank you, Dr. Landreth & Sue Bratton for enhancing what I do in my counseling! I see myself being available to women's shelters, as a resource to daycares and elementary school counselors, and churches. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

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This book offers a survey of the historical and theoretical development of the filial therapy approach and presents an overview of filial therapy training and then filial therapy processes. The book also includes a transcript of an actual session, answers to common questions raised by parents, children, and therapists, as well as additional resources and research summaries. Additional chaptersaddress filial therapy with special populations, filial therapy in special settings, and perhaps the most useful resource for busy therapists and parents, a chaptercovers variations of the 10 session model, to allow for work with individual parents, training via telephone, and time-intensive or time-extended schedules.

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Not Trauma Alone: Therapy for Child Abuse Survivors in Family and Social Context (Series in Trauma and Loss) Review

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(More customer reviews)Excellent viewpoints from different angles. I read it from a 'victim in recovery' view. I identified with the entire book. It does not cover the more unusual aspect of the victim living in fear of losing his life at the hands of his mother as in my case; but does cover very fully the more usual traumas in the family context of PCB (Prolonged Child Abuse). I read it all through, then started all over again - slowly - with my yellow highlighter. It gave me confirmation and great respect of Steven Gold's immense research and practical experience in this area. One can see 'Dissociation' in action from the social family viewpoint. Definitely a good study/read for those dealing with trauma victims as survivors or those in recovery. This is reality. (We are not alone!)

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How is an individual to lead a comfortable, productive existence when he or she was never taught the skills necessary for effective living? Adult survivors of child abuse often face this dilemma. Instead of being nurtured as children and taught life-skills by their caregivers, child abuse survivors were subjected to a daily regimen of coercive control, contempt, rejection and emotional unresponsiveness. It is not surprising, therefore, that many survivors encounter difficulty adjusting from this type of damaging childhood atmosphere to one in which they have autonomy. This book addresses the particular problems associated with treating adult survivors of child abuse. Until now, psychotherapy for child abuse survivors often centered on the trauma of their abuse experiences. However, survivors frequently reveal a history suggesting it was not abuse trauma alone that created their difficulties, but growing up essentially alone - without the consistent emotional support and guidance needed for development of effective functioning.This book presents an alternative to trauma-focused treatment that, though effective for treatment of other forms of trauma, can induce deteriorated rather than improved functioning in survivors of prolonged childhood maltreatment. The contextual therapy presented in Not Trauma Alone delineates a psychotherapeutic approach that emphasizes helping survivors develop the capacities for effective functioning that were never transmitted to them during their formative years. Detailed descriptions of the methods and interventions comprising contextual therapy are included in this critical book for all mental health professionals, clinicians, academics, and students in the field.

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Family Therapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal Review

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(More customer reviews)Written for students, therapists, and pastors, the textbook Family Therapies is designed to provide intelligent content about psychotherapy topics, while not losing readers with less clinical inclinations. The book accomplishes this goal.
Students reading the textbook will receive an ample review of major family therapy models, while counselors will benefit from the more nuanced clinical insights of the authors, such as the "respect commitment," a concept that can be implemented during times of family stress or crisis. According to the authors:
The respect commitment is a pledge to not provoke secondary crisis through acts or attitudes that are known to cause additional pain for other family members. For example, a family member might sooth their pain by stopping at a sports bar after work and watching a NASCAR race and drinking a beer, or walking alone in the woods [for two hours] before coming home...Or an adolescent might choose to spend $400 of his or her money saved for college on clothes or stereo equipment--impulsively, without consultation with a parent. The respect commitment says that for the time being each member will respect others by not engaging in behaviors that are within your "individual right" but are also known to be potentially incendiary (p. 320).
Ideas like this one are scattered throughout the text like so many chocolate espresso beans in my trail mix. And like those beans, they have helped me to think sharply about new techniques that could work with current clients, and brainstorm new ways of approaching therapy with future ones.
While a textbook by definition, it is conversational enough to read straight through. Granted, 500 pages will take you a while, so you may want to start with the family therapy models in which you have interest. The text surveys major family therapy models including:
· Bowenian Family Therapy
· Strategic Family Therapy
· Structural Family Therapy
· Psychodynamic Family Therapy
· Contextual Family Therapy
· Experiential Family Therapy
· Solution-Focused Family Therapy
· Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy
· Narrative Family Therapy
In the second half of the book, Yarhouse and Sells take a topic-based approach and address a selection of family therapy issues including crisis and trauma, marital conflict, and substance abuse.
Bottom Line
This is not a ground breaking study, a Yalom page-turner, or a self-improvement must-read. But it is an unusually well written textbook. It's a good choice if you're a therapist or counseling pastor looking for a serious guide to Christian family therapy.
Final Note: If you're looking for an Online Counseling Textbook, this is the best online therapy / telephone therapy text on the market:
The Therapist's Clinical Guide to Online Counseling and Telephone Counseling: The Definitive Training Guide for Clinical Practice

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Christian therapists doing family therapy have never had a resource to help them navigate the various family therapy theories from a Christian perspective--until now.In this book Mark A. Yarhouse and James N. Sells survey the major approaches to family therapy and treat, within a Christian framework, significant psychotherapeutic issues. The wide array of issues covered includes
crisis and trauma
marital conflict
separation, divorce and blended families
individual psychopathology
substance abuse and addictions
gender, culture, economic class and race
sexual identity
Calling for an integrated approach of "responsible eclecticism," they conclude with a vision for Christian family therapy.A landmark work providing critical Christian engagement with existing models of family therapy, this volume was written for those studying counseling, social work, psychology or family therapy. Family Therapies will also serve as an indispensable resource for those in the mental health professions, including counselors, psychologists, family therapists, social workers and pastors.

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Family Therapy: An Overview Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of the oldest and most classic family therapy text. Many experienced counselors have benefited from previous editions of the book. I read it several years ago, and I am also the co-translator of the Chinese edition of this book (4th ed.). It took us a LOT of time in the translation process. Because the language is full of jargons and the sentences are very long. It's a bit difficult for non-English speaking people. However, it has some good points. First, it has almost everything a biginner needs to know about family therapy. Second, it includes updated information. For example, it now has a single chapter on cultural diversity and ethnicity, which is an important topic in this field. And the popular theories like narrative and solution-focused therapies are also included. One weakness is that many old and less-used approaches occupied much space only for their historical importance. Besides, some information on the chapter of research does not catch up with latest trends. Overall, I think it is suitable for introductory family therapy courses, especially at the undergraduate level. But I think it could have more clinical examples to more clearly depict the theories.

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This current, engaging, and practice-oriented text is your complete resource for mastering the many facets of family therapy. In this Seventh Edition of their respected text, Irene and Herbert Goldenberg examine and explain traditional and evolving viewpoints, perspectives, values, intervention techniques, and goals of family therapy. The authors provide practice-oriented content that will help you become an empathic and effective family therapist. The new edition includes the latest references and contemporary thinking on central issues such as family resiliency, alternative forms of family life today, gender, culture, and ethnic considerations. This edition also contains the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Code of Ethics-a great reference that will help you understand the importance of ethical practices.

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Ethnicity and Family Therapy, Third Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)I first read this book several years ago. I am a professional computer scientist/applied mathematician, and have no training at all in any social science aside from history, government and anthropology courses taken in college (lo these many years ago). My interest in this book arises from the illumination that its chapters on the English, the Irish, the Italians and the Jews (the main ethnic groups in the town in which I grew up) have given to otherwise inexplicable bits of my life. For example, I could never understand why one of my Yankee friends would go into paroxysms of anger when, after inviting his daughter to Sunday dinner, she would accept, and then call with a (legitimate) excuse on Saturday; or why one of my mother's best friends, a woman of Irish descent, drove me wild for over 40 years with her teasing manner, although she clearly meant very well towards me. The pathways of social and familial relationships passed from generation to generation through the filter of ethnic heritage appears to be remarkably powerful, even in these post-melting-pot days. Read this book with an eye to self-discovery if you don't believe me!

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